An excerpt from the Hamiltonbulldogs.com game review of the Bulldogs 5-3 win over the Moose:
Three Bulldogs players scored their first-career AHL goals as the Hamilton Bulldogs defeated the Manitoba Moose 5-3 at MTS Centre in front of a 6,442 crowd. With the win, the ‘Dogs opened their 2008-2009 season with back-to-back wins for the first time since the 2002-2003 season.
The Bulldogs opened the scoring with two goals 34 seconds apart. David Desharnais received a pass from Mike Glumac before he backhanded the puck into the top of the net at 7:03 of the opening frame. Max Pacioretty added an assist on the goal, the first AHL point of his career. Ryan White made it 2-0 at 7:37 after he banged a Pavel Valentenko rebound past Manitoba starting goaltender Karl Goehring.
The Moose cut Hamilton’s lead to one after Jason Krog beat Hamilton starting netminder Marc Denis at 10:18 of the first period. Michel Ouellet sent a pass to Krog, who snapped a shot over the left shoulder of Denis to make it a 2-1 game.
24 seconds into the second stanza, Yannick Weber scored his first AHL goal while on the power play. With Zach Fitzgerald in the penalty box with a double-minor for high-sticking, Weber collected the puck on the right point before he blasted a shot that sailed by Goehring. The Bulldogs increased their lead to 4-1 after a loose puck bounced off Manitoba defenceman Nolan Baumgartner and into the net. Brock Trotter was awarded the goal.
Baumgartner redeemed himself when he scored a goal at 16:11 of the middle frame. Ouellet fed a pass to Baumgartner who hammered a one-timer shot that beat Denis to cut Hamilton’s advantage to 4-2.
Pierre-Cedric Labrie pulled the Moose to within one goal at 2:21 of the final frame. Labrie blasted a bouncing puck from the top of the circle and over the blocker of Denis.
Ben Maxwell restored the Bulldogs’ two-goal lead with his first AHL marker at 7:12 of the third stanza. Maxwell skated down the right side before centering the puck, which bounced off a Manitoba defender and into the back of the net to give the ‘Dogs a 5-3 lead.
Between the pipes, Marc Denis turned aside 34 of the 37 shots he faced for the Bulldogs while Karl Goehring made 20 saves on 25 shots for the Moose in a losing effort.
Hamilton Spectator: Bulldogs off to hot start